Accessions to Repositories: Guidance for local authority places of deposit reporting public records

The Accessions to Repositories programme

The programme annually surveys records received by collecting archives during the calendar year. Participating archives are asked to report all new accessions. This allows for accurate assessment of eligibility for New Burdens funding as well as analysis of trends and collecting practices. However, please do not include any personally sensitive data. To enable more comprehensive analysis of accessions records we ask participating repositories to use the updated template and read the guidance below. Please see the section 'what will happen to the information you send us' for more details on how we use accessions data.

Please do not modify the subject line when replying to the invite email as the subject allows us to identify and process returns more dynamically

Taking Part

Invitations to participate are sent out in early December to repositories known to be actively collecting beyond their own institutional records. If you usually participate but have not received an invitation by the middle of December, please contact us.

Please use the template attached to your Invitation email to aid our processing of the data.

The template is also available via http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/accessions/

The deadline

Complete the updated Accessions return template and send it to NRA.Accessions@nationalarchives.gov.uk by 01 February 2021.

This deadline allows for sufficient time to process and analyse the information gathered. For returns received after the deadline, payments of New Burdens funding cannot be guaranteed.

If you have accessioned eligible records, you will need to respond promptly to any request for confirmation of stated quantities and agree to the terms for payment to be authorised.

Why am I invited?

We have identified your archive as being a local authority place of deposit appointed to take in certain public records specified in secondary legislation: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3249/schedule/1/made

New Burdens funding is available to cover the accelerated accessioning of certain classes of public records listed in the above Schedule. To make a claim, local authority places of deposit must highlight their public record accessions for 2020, and report the quantity of their public records accessions in linear metres, or in Mb or Gb for born-digital public records, in the relevant columns of their return.

What extra data is needed in relation to public record accessions?

In addition to the primary fields, we need archives to mark-up public records on their return, and provide the following additional data: Providing this information is essential for verifying the eligibility of your records for New Burdens funding; without it, payment cannot be made.

Please ensure you indicate which accessions are public records by putting a ‘y’ in the public record field in order to be considered for New Burdens funding. We rely on your information and cannot always check returns to look for unmarked public records.

For queries on eligibility and guidance on what to flag as ‘public record’ in your return, please see our additional New Burdens FAQs http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/our-archives-sector-role/legislation/20-year-rule-and-records-of-local-interest/

What information is collected for the Accessions to Repositories survey?

The survey aims to collect information on all newly accessioned material to gather a full snapshot of collecting patterns across the sector.

Please mark newly accessioned records that you believe to have the most evidential, cultural or societal impact in the ‘collections highlight’ column in the template.

The template

We ask all repositories to use the template provided. Please contact us if this is a problem. Please do not add to or change the order of columns in the template, as this will adversely affect our ability to process and analyse the data; we rely on the format being as uniform as possible.

All returns must include the following details:

**ARCHON number** This can be found by searching http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-home and will be included in the subject line of your email.

**Creator of records** As far as possible, this should include full name, dates, epithet (e.g. occupation), and descriptor and/or function for any entities (corporate bodies, families or individuals) that created the records. More details will help us to disambiguate creators, add information to our resources and link between related collections. Please note the creator is not necessarily the same as the depositor.

**Summary description** Brief information about the records.

**Covering dates** The covering dates for the whole collection, preferably in the format yyyy-yyyy (e.g. 1858-1957).

**ISAD (G) reference number and/or accession reference** The collection reference number and/or accession reference.

**Quantity** The extent of the collection being accessioned in this year. Note: for public records, this total includes any 2005 and post-2005 records. When reporting public records exact dates and volumes in linear metres, and either Mb or Gb for born-digital material, are needed. Only public records formally selected for permanent preservation and accessioned should be reported.

**Additional deposit?** Whether the deposit is an addition to an existing collection in your repository. If yes, please provide the reference number. Collection highlight? Let us know the highlights of your collecting over the past year. Please also use this field to flag records you would like us to highlight in our communications with researchers and the sector.

Catalogue link A permanent URL. This is a web address that will consistently point to your specific information resource such as an entry in an online catalogue.

Keyword A handful of words reflecting the main themes covered by the content of the documents comprising the collection. This will enable us to surface themes and trends when analysing the data.

Mark up For internal use only, please leave blank.

For Public Records only:

Public record? Please indicate whether the accession is a public record, in order to be considered for New Burdens funding. A definition of a public record is available on our website: http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/our-archives-sector-role/legislation/approved-places-of-deposit/ Do not include here any records received as ‘presentations’ under s.3(6) of the Public Records Act - once received by you, they cease to be public records (you will have been contacted by The National Archives if this is the case)

Transferring body for public records only The organisation responsible for depositing the records. The records they transfer may have been originally created by a predecessor body or unit, and so the ‘creator’ and ‘transferring body’ may not be the same. Occasionally, records are received by an organisation or individual that may not appear to be directly involved in government business, in which case please give details. Please do not give personal data as part of your response.

Quantity in linear metres of public records dating 1996 and earlier for public records only The reporting needs to be linear metres for reporting the volume of public records.

Quantity in Mg or Gb of born-digital public records dating 1996 and earlier for public records only The reporting needs to be Mb or GB for reporting the quantity of born-digital public records.

Quantity in linear metres of public records dating 1997 to 2004 for public records only The reporting needs to be in linear metres for reporting the volume of public records.

Quantity in Mg or Gb of born-digital public records dating 1997 to 2004 for public records only The reporting needs to be Mb or GB for reporting the quantity of born-digital public records.

Reporting in linear metres or either Mb or GB For consistency with current reporting of 20-year rule transfers by government departments, the reporting unit will need to be linear metres and either Mb or Gb for born-digital public records. Repositories reporting accessions volumes in cubic metres should collect this data in the usual way, but then multiply the number of cubic metres by 12 to give a linear metre equivalent, as with CIPFA returns, rather than calculate directly on the basis of their own local shelving arrangements.

Example: 10.5 cubic metres of Bedford Hospital theatre registers = 126 linear metres | ARCHON Number | Repository Name | Creator of the records including full name, dates, epithet, descriptor and/or function. | Summary description | Covering dates | ISAD(G) reference code | Quantity of accessioned collection\* | Additional deposit? (Y/N) | Collection highlight? (Y/N) | Persistent URL of catalogue entry | Keywords | Public Record? (Y/N) | Transferring body for public records only (note that the creator and transferring body may not always be the same) | Quantity in linear metres of public records dated 1994 and earlier | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 1994 and earlier | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 1995 to 2004 | Quantity in Mb or Gb of born-digital public records dated 2005 to present | Mark up (internal use) | |---------------|----------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------|---------------|------------------------|-----------------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|---------------------------------|----------|----------------|-------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------| | 41 | EXAMPLE London Metropolitan Archives | EXAMPLE Woolwich Infirmary | theatre registers | 1970-1984 | HOBR5 | 4 linear metres; 5.200 | Y | N | nil | heart surgery, biopsy, transplant | Y | Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust | 4 | 0 | 3.70b | 4.5 | | 143 | EXAMPLE Birmingham Archives, Heritage and Photography Service | EXAMPLE Richard Lloyd & Co Ltd, tool manufacturers, Birmingham | digital records | 1901-2000 | MS 4767 | 4.800 | N | Y | nil | digital, laminators, banknotes | N | | | | | | | | 214 | EXAMPLE Glamorgan Archives | EXAMPLE Bridgend and Glamorgan Valleys Coroner | post modern papers and inquest file | 1900-1999 | CORB | 1.00 | Y | N | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | EXAMPLE Cambridge University Churchill Archives Centre | EXAMPLE Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill, 1874-1965, Knight, Prime Minister and Historian | personal papers with background correas and papers including audio tapes of speeches. | 1945-1965 | CHUR | 20 boxes | Y | Y | | | | | | | | | | | | | 179 | EXAMPLE East Sussex Record Office | EXAMPLE Battle Magistrates' Court and Bexhill Petty Sessions | Adoption registers | 1927-2013 | 12509 | 6.5 linear metres | N | Y | nil | maternity home, Catholic, Inspections | V | Eastbourne, Hastings and Worthing Combined Magistrates' Courts | 2 | 1 | 3.5 | New Burdens funding

Please note that New Burdens funding is only available for the accessioning of certain classes of public record dated up to and including 2004. For more information see the bodies specified in Schedule 1 under the statutory instrument amending the Public Records Act http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/3249/schedule/1/made

Please let us know as soon as possible if your archive service has not received any deposits during the past year, or does not have the capacity to complete a return.

After submitting your return

If you submit information about public records that are eligible for New Burdens funding, a member of the 20-year rule team will contact you after initial processing. To be eligible for funding, please respond promptly to any request for confirmation of stated quantities and agreement to the terms.

What will happen to the information you send us?

- The data will primarily be used to analyse and develop a national picture of collecting patterns, and identify gaps in collecting practices. The results of this analysis will be shared with the archive sector.
- It will be used to update Discovery and will be made available for researchers online and may be publicised on The National Archives’ social media outlets.
- Data will also be analysed to track records identified as part of our Sales Monitoring Service and monitor public records and manorial document transfers

Please note that accessions data will be published on data.gov.uk. This will aid transparency and allow researchers access to the entire set of reported accessions.

For assistance with completing the survey, please contact Archives Sector Development at NRA.Accessions@nationalarchives.gov.uk

More information about the programme can also be found at: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/projects-and-programmes/accessions/

For information about contributing to Discovery please visit our website: http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/archives-sector/advice-and-guidance/managing-your-collection/developing-collections/contributing-to-our-resources/.

Updated July 2020